Beware the east wind! It’s hurricane season in Florida, and everyone’s attention is focused on preparing for the latest tempest. But in Serendipity Springs, mah jongg pals Marianne, Sydney, Micki and Kat are caught in a different kind of whirlwind—a mesmerizing murder case involving a slain hypnotist/chef and the woman police suspect of doing her in, her embittered catering partner, Portia.
Tasked by Portia to help clear her name, and at the risk of infuriating Kat’s sheriff boyfriend, Marianne and her friends discover there are more than enough suspects—and secrets—to go around. Wary of getting themselves into more dangerous situations, Marianne and Syd agree to let their protective spouses join the hunt, even if their scheming husbands are really in it for the action, not bodyguard duty.
As they dig into the hypnotist’s explosive files, more and more questions arise. Was she blackmailing her clients? Did her husband knock her off to gain access to those secrets? And is Portia telling them everything she knows? The sleuths pile their own deceptions on top of the suspects’ lies as a dangerous storm gathers steam offshore. When will the east wind strike, and will the hurricane’s merciless eye reveal a killer?
Barbara Barrett makes me want to move to Serendipity Springs, play Mah Jongg and join the four members for coffee!
Marianne is distracted, not even the Mah Jongg table is keeping her away from the plots in her brain for one act plays, eventually she has to admit to her three friends (Syd, Micki and Kat) that she has sent some of her plays off for competitions and whilst they didn't win they got very good feedback, her friends are thrilled for her BUT they are there to play Mah Jongg and so they threaten her with having to pay them each 5 cents for every time during the game she drifts off into writer land! This does the trick and they enjoy the rest of the afternoon, later on they will all be meeting again for a black tie function and fund raiser, they discovered that the entertainment will have changed, originally it was going to be Chamber Music but two members of the set are ill, now they are having a Hypnotist! The evening goes well, without too many embarrassing moments being aired on stage, even so the four friends are startled to hear that a few days later the Hypnotist has been murdered!
Now the distraction faced by all of them (and two husbands) is to figure out who would kill her, one of her disgruntled clients or her partner in a catering business? Marianne knows the brother of the latter through her writing course and he is begging her and her friends to prove his sisters innocence? The thing is can they do this without stepping on Kat's Sheriff boyfriend's toes, without getting themselves in danger and before a hurricane hits Serendipity? Read the book and find out!
An Interview With A Character
What is your full name?
Marianne Yarbrough Putnam.
What is your Profession?
I used to be a pharmacist back in Pennsylvania. I worked in a local drugstore until it was swallowed up by a large chain of pharmacies. They hired me as part of the deal, but it was never quite the same. At the mom-and-pop drugstore I knew most of our clients, which included their ailments and health history. I knew when someone was really hurting and the medication was truly needed.
Although I’m a scientist at heart and prefer to deal in facts, another side of me enjoyed spending time learning about the stresses and difficulties that may have been prompting our clients’ medical conditions. I guess that part of me carried over into my new life as an amateur sleuth solving murders along with my three Mah Jongg buddies.
What is your current favourite book or movie?
I like a good detective story. Not the murder part with all the gory details, but the solving it part where the sleuth deduces who dunnit by putting together a list of unrelated facts and arriving at the only person who could be the culprit. That said, my current favorite is Mr. Churchill’s Secretary by Susan Elia MacNeil. Not only does the heroine, Maggie Hope, figure out an obscure coding system in a newspaper that informs German spies living in World War II England when to strike next, she also solves a murder, all while working for the famous prime minister. She has inspired me to hang in there when nothing seems to make sense in the cases we’re working.
What is your go to comfort book or movie?
Pizza is our go-to meal whenever my friends and I are working on a case. I order pepperoni. I’ve heard it’s the most popular topping, although one of my friends prefers sausage and another likes Hawaiian ham and pineapple. That last one turns my stomach, which is probably why she gets it, so no one else will attempt to steal it. Actually, I prefer to cook a homemade meal whenever possible. I’m a bit of a dinosaur in that respect. None of the others is into cooking or even homemaking as much as me. One even has her own housekeeper thanks to winning a sizeable lottery pot a few years back.
My friends and I tend to discuss our “cases” at a small coffee shop in the downtown section of our little community. My favorite there is caramel macchiato. Since I could stand to lose a few pounds, I’ve had to modify my orders to include skim milk and sugar-free caramel syrup. Not the same, but it helps my guilty conscience.
And I’m also a big fan of kosher dill pickles. Don’t ask me why. When I was a kid, I used to remove all the pickle slices from my burger whenever my folks got us fast food, but during my first pregnancy (I have two grown sons now), I discovered the pickle, and snack time hasn’t been the same since.
Three responses; did I mention I’m an overachiever? However, by no means try all three of these together. I’m just a bit of a woman for all seasons.
If someone was to play you in a movie who would it be? OR what would be the character you would want to be in a book?
Have you ever seen the British TV show “As Time Goes By”? I sort of resemble Dame Judi Dench (before she became a Dame) in that minus the English access. Although she’s a terrific actress in the numerous dramas in which she has appeared, I’m more the comedienne she is in that old TV show. Although when I’m on a case, as was the case in Beware the East Wind, I go more into her “M” mode from her James Bond years, serious and big-picture-oriented. Although I haven’t reached her 84 years, in fact I could be her daughter, a younger actress who could portray me might be Michelle Williams with graying red hair. I wear mine short like her. Did you see her in “Fosse/Vernon”? She won an Emmy for that role. At 5’4’’, she’s a little taller than me. Did I mention I’m somewhat height-impaired? The Dame is 5’1” like me.
What is your ideal evening?
Until recently, I would have told you the ideal evening for me is one spent watching one of my favorite movies on TV snuggled up against my husband of many years, Beau, with a bowl of popcorn and a soda. I still like that, but I’ve branched out somewhat of late as I’ve taken up writing one-act plays. The ideal evening is sitting at the back of an appreciative, responsive audience watching one of my babies come to life. It hasn’t happened yet, but I’m getting there. I’ve been entering contests and receiving nice feedback. I haven’t won any yet, but I have received honorable mentions. But someday it’s gonna happen, and when it does, it will be perfect.
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
October 24 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
October 24 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 25 – I Read What You Write – GUEST POST
October 25 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
October 26 – Here’s How It Happened – SPOTLIGHT
October 26 – Diane Reviews Books – GUEST POST
October 27 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
October 27 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
October 28 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHTS
October 28 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
October 28 – eBook Addicts – SPOTLIGHT
October 29 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST
October 29 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
October 30 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
October 30 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
October 30 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT
October 31 – The Book Diva’s Reads – CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 31 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
November 1 – A Blue Million Books – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
November 1 – LibriAmoriMiei – REVIEW
November 1 – Readeropolis – GUEST POST
November 2 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT
November 2 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT
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